Crisis Love: He and The Two Best Friends
by worldreminiscence
Summary: Two best friends who fell in love with the same man. And he, who was torn between duty and love. How will these three people manage to hold the feelings that weren't meant to be..? Pairings inside. AU. IN-PROGRESS.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello everyone! My second fanfic ever! x] First of all, THANK U SO MUCH NICHA(the one I share this website with) FOR EDITING THIS! u're awesometastic imouto-san(li'l sis)!XD Anyway, I am currently obssessed with Lightning and Noctis fanfics.. o.o and then an idea popped out in my mind. I wrote it and this came out, eek. I am not a good writer, but I will do my best to improve. Oh, this is not only Lightning and Noctis, just to let everyone know, I put Stella here so yeah the story will evolve around those three mainly. But I also don't know myself yet if who is gonna end up with who. Although I already have an idea(a little bit). AND I know it is short :[ Sorry about that T^T i will make the Chapter 1 longer. This is only a Prologue. (argh sorry for long author's note, when i noticed it, i was surprised myself. Didn't think i've written too much already, I'm so sorry! Now on to the prologue..)**

**BTW!: I don't know much about the actual game, I don't have it and will never buy it because well I don't have ps3 and spare time to play it :[ So please forgive me if there are some wrong details written on here. Anyway, this is fanfiction. Maybe, I just purposely made it that way(?) x] **

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything on this, not even the characters, or the game plot but hey at least I own the idea of this fanfic :]**

**Genre(s): Romance/Angst (it's my first time writing an angsty story)**

**Summary:**

Two best friends who fell in love with the same man. And he, who was torn between duty and love. How will these three people manage to hold the feelings that weren't meant to be?

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**Prologue: **

**Best Friends**

"…ning?" the voice said timidly.

The young lady who was sound asleep in the shades of the tree slightly opened her eyes. She looked around lazily to see where the voice was coming from.

"Lightning..!" repeated the voice. But this time, it was louder.

"What?" Lightning asked, and finally found the owner of the timid, yet high-pitched voice.

Her icy blue eyes met the purple ones.

"You're sleeping here again." The girl giggled. She had blonde hair, and was wearing a white sleeveless dress which ran down to her knees.

"So, it's you again, Stella," Lightning replied.

Stella sat beside her, wearing one of the gentlest smiles on her face. Lightning noticed this and made a sigh of relief. She knew very well the hard time Stella was experiencing; being a princess and having too many duties to perform. Yet, she would always come to Lightning's place during every free time she could endeavor to find. It was to relax her mind and have some fun talk with her best friend. But, not only Stella. Lightning was going through the same thing. She was a soldier and at the same time, an assassin. It was her duty to kill people of high status, corrupted organization leaders and.. anyone whom Phoenix would command her to. Phoenix was the order she was in, and though she hated it so much, she couldn't do anything against them because she owed them for saving her younger sister's life that was once in danger.

Lightning sighed again as she felt something leaning over her left shoulder. It was Stella's head. Stella fell asleep leaning on her, her face so angelic and peaceful.

'She dared wake me up only to fall asleep herself?' Lightning couldn't help but smile a bit as she shook her head. But soon afterwards, her face turned into frown, brows knitting together. She remembered the past. How Phoenix had managed to take control over her life.. Completely.

_Lightning was nine years old when her parents died from an illness that had once spread all over the city, leaving only Serah, her younger sister, to her. From that time on, she vowed to herself that she would protect Serah no matter what. And she never failed to break this vow, until at one time, when Serah turned eleven years old and Lightning was fourteen.. They had encountered the most terrible enemies that their parents ever had. Back at that time, Lightning didn't know the connections between them and her parents. She only knew that they wanted to take Serah with them, for self benefits and so Lightning fought. But they used brute force, leaving Lightning beaten up and Serah being taken with them._

_"Onee-chan!" Serah yelled, crying._

_"..Ugh.. Se..rah.." Lightning mumbled with her eyes shut tightly, breathing heavily. She was lying in the ground, bruises and scratches all over her pale skin, trying to stand up and fight, but her body didn't let her._

_Soon, after she recovered from the injuries, she fervently searched for Serah, but stumbled into Phoenix instead. Seeing her desperate actions, they offered her a help for one condition; work for the Phoenix. Lightning, at the age of fourteen, didn't understand what they meant by it. Only her desperation to get Serah back made her answer: yes. And so, after Lightning was brought to the order for three days, Serah came back with some of the soldiers of Phoenix. Her life was threatened into becoming crystallized for experimentation; is what Phoenix told Lightning._

'..I just hope that the time when they would order me to kill someone close to me will not come,' Lightning thought to herself. She then glanced at Stella's sleeping face and sighed again, thinking, 'Now, all I have to do is wait for another mission. Then again..and again. A never-ending cycle of my life.'

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**Waah, there the prologue is.. o.o I hope it was ok. I tried to keep them in character even in this short prologue.. I'm sorry if they're ooc. Please let me know what u think about it :] I'd love to see a feedback, but honestly, even one review would make my day brighter already! Thank u so much to those who reads it too even if u don't review. Anonymous reviewers are always welcome :] I'll post the next chapter soon (hopefully.) :]  
**

**Well then, Have a nice day or good night everyone~!**

**-_Terru_**

**_oh.. yeah, WAAAAAIT Everyone! i forgot to mention something! about the title.. i'm not sure if it makes sense yet, I am hoping that as the story goes on, the title will fit it all. Or should it be Love Crisis? Crisis Love? Which do u think makes sense better? T^T_**


	2. Chapter 1: Light of the Night Sky

**A/N**: I'm so sorry for updating late and this was all I got. T^T I will update the Chapter 2 very soon. This was not edited by Nicha. I was the one who reread and edited it so it might not be that good. But I did many times so, i hope it is ok, sorry everyone. By the way, I took the Final fantasy Versus 13 Extended Trailer. I wanted to write it and I also thought that it would be good to include here. Please enjoy. x]

Shotgun guy = Jester

Scar-eyed guy = Dominic

Glasses guy = Aldred

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Chapter 1:

Light of the Night Sky

Noctis' POV

I was sitting on my king-sized throne again with right fist supporting my chin, left arm resting on the arm rest, legs crossed, eyes closed and only thinking about things that seemed to occupy my mind lately. It was not good at all for me, knowing that myself would someday rule our land as I happened to be the last heir of Caelum Dynasty. And even though I have three good friends... I still felt that my life was only evolving around it; duty.

I slowly opened my eyes after realizing that some soldiers from enemies' side have arrived, erasing the thoughts from my head. I sighed and stood up from the throne. 'Another fight..' I thought as I started to walk to the front and immediately saw some of my soldiers lying dead on the ground. While I looked around and eyes directed down the stairs, I could see hundreds of soldiers with body metal suit waiting for me, guns on their hands and in mine? Invisible.

I looked at all of them turning my head from right to left as I stepped one forward down the stairs. I could see their whole reaction, now facing my direction and pointing their guns at me and as I continued stepping downstairs, they started shooting at me. 'I should.. finish this fast.' I thought to myself.

Normal POV

Noctis resumed stepping one by one downstairs as the soldiers fired at him with hundreds of bullets flying swiftly, but all of it couldn't even break the transparent wall that seemed to protect him. He then stopped, and as he lifted his right arm from his chest, he swayed it to the right side, summoning sword shields. Soon, the swords that was forming the shield started to move on their own, circling around Noctis as he moved his right hand and quickly grabbed one huge sword from his left side, hazel eyes turning into crimson red as he lifted it from broad-chest.

The soldiers were shocked by Noctis' ability but they still continued firing bullets at him. And as fast as the bullets, Noctis suddenly disappeared only to reappear inside the crowd of soldiers running through them with his feet almost not touching the ground with each steps. He swayed his sword and slashed at each soldiers he passed by. He jumped in the air and pinned the sword in the ground to use it as support, he threw himself circling around it and then he used his legs to twist the neck of one soldier he landed in. Then he knelt on the ground, letting his left arm swing making the swords from thin air to slash at some of the soldiers who tried to shoot at him.

After a second, he stood up and with an impassive expression on his face. He teleported from the pool of dead bodies onto the stair and he started to step upwards, disappearing and reappearing from each steps he skipped. And although there were some of the soldiers who ran up to him, they were only quickly blocked with transparent wall of sword shields.

Noctis then teleported from the stairs up in the air near the skycraper where some soldiers seemed to appear suddenly. It was as if he was flying like a bird when he continued gliding in the process of disappearing and reappearing as he slashed at the soldiers while they were being pulled by gravity. Then Noctis threw his sword onto the opposite end of the building allowing him to teleport again only to grab it by its handle and repeating the same process and ended it by piercing his huge sword on one of the soldiers' chest, letting the blood that spurted out join the air.

The next thing they realized was he, already standing in the previous place where he was, before fighting the soldiers. Back facing the ground where he battled with them, a huge explosion was suddenly sent to him, but it was Noctis. Not your typical strong fighter but an unbelievably strong wielder of numerous swords who could also use telekinesis. By this fact, he only turned his head slightly to the left, looking over his shoulder from the corner of his eyes with blank expression. His sword shields already formed a transparent wall blocking the explosion, covering him and not even letting a scratch touch him. After a few seconds, he continued to walk and disappeared into the darkness.

*****

Next morning.

He was in his office, sitting on the chair and facing his desk. On top of it were mountains of paper. He sighed. 'After a fight, this..' he thought as lots of thoughts encircled his mind again but was soon interrupted when a loud _bang _reached his ears. He quickly stood up with his expressionless face, only his brows were knitting together. He reached to the door and hand ready to twist the knob to open the door, but someone suddenly pulled it which made Noctis widened his eyes as he was startled. There, he saw a blonde haired guy with shotgun on his shoulder dashing towards him.

"Noct!" the blonde haired guy yelled calling Noctis by his so-called nickname.

"What? What's going on?" he asked.

"Help! He's gonna kill me!"

"Who?"

"Dominic."

Noctis put his arms across his chest thinking that it was again the same prank that his friends had always played. The blonde guy, Jester grinned.

"Oh man, come on. Play along!" demanded Jester then he chuckled.

"I don't have time for pranks," Noctis coldly replied.

"Man, you have to re-"

Jester was cut off when Dominic came and pulled him into a headlock, chuckling. He tried to protest but no use. On the contrary, the guy with the scar on his face, Dominic, grinned and waved his left hand at Noctis.

"Yo, Noct," he greeted.

"Yo," he shortly replied. At that instant, he went back to his desk but instead of sitting, he remained standing. He looked outside the window. Peaceful.. He then turned his head to Dominic again and asked, "Where's Aldred?" Dominic shrugged. "He's probably driving into somewhere again. No idea where to though," he replied.

Noctis could only shrugged too.

Watching his two friends as they chuckled and resumed playing their pranks with each other was the best view for him. Or, at least, way better than fighting and killing.

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**Thank u so much for reading! x] I sucked at writing the action/battle so please forgive me for that T.T Also please feel free to let me know if there are wrong grammars/spellings. Anonymous reviewers are always welcome too. :] **

**Oh! before I forgot, thank u so much:**

**Z Mini-Licious, Oblivion Star Seeker, Doll-Airi, nicegal1 and Danielle**

**Also thank u so much for those who added this in their story alert. It really made me happy.**


	3. Chapter 2: Star and Light

**A/N: I haven't updated in 2 weeks and I said I'd update very soon last time. T.T Sorry about that. But I hope u keep in touch with the story. Please enjoy reading :] Oh btw, I couldn't resist putting another cut scene from Final Fantasy Versus XIII.. But I changed the dialogs.. Anyway, It'll have more details soon. :] This wasn't beta-ed too.. I edited it, so I'm sorry if it isn't that good in grammar. Nicha is busy for her tests. And I wish her BEST luck! x]  
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Chapter 2:

Star and Light

_No matter where you go, past never leaves you_; Lightning, standing still leaning on the windowpane of her room, thought. Her past was haunting her and she knew it. It was impossible for her to forget what had happened. Every little piece of the bad memory that kept on living within her. She wanted to break free from it; the heavy task on her shoulder. But knew she couldn't.

Heaving a sigh, Lightning shut her eyelids letting herself feel relaxed for a moment. But the silence she was enjoying soon ended up when a _ring_ from her phone echoed in the room she was in. She then quickly dragged her hand on the pocket where her phone was and picked it up.

"Yes?" Lightning simply asked in a calm voice as she pressed the speaker of the phone on her ear.

She remained silent, taking in all the messages that the person from the other line was telling her.

Soon after few minutes, she dismissed the connection with only a firm "alright". Then she put the phone back on her small pouch pocket hanging on her belt.

"Great. A new mission to accomplish," she whispered to herself. Sighing again, she slowly turned her head in the direction of the door and started walking out leaving aside the enjoyable silence she felt just a while ago.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

Silence poured over the place. Vanille was now tapping her feet on the ground continuously with both hands on her waist. The red-orange haired girl's patience has started to shorten.

5:00 pm ...

5:10 pm …

"..She's late," Vanille's voice vibrated loudly through the whole place, her impatience already reached her. _But, no wait.. She could never be late._ She thought about it over and over. Ten minutes had passed, then another five minutes and Lightning wasn't still arriving. There could only be one reason behind all of these; Lightning left her again. Vanille clenched her fist at the thought. "Light, how could you?" A hint of hurt in her voice was there as she walked back and forth unconsciously. She knew Lightning too well. Maybe the next mission was dangerous? And probably, she just didn't want to risk Vanille's life on it so she left all by herself. Or maybe, she only thought that Vanille would be disturbance to the mission.. Vanille pouted at the last thought. But then, she still wanted to come along, she wanted to be there for her even though she knew that Lightning's strength alone was already enough to sabotage any monstrous living thing on the planet. Yes, that's how much she's strong.

Vanille stopped walking as she looked up at the dark clouds above her. It was soon to be night. "Light, I wish you'd trust me.." Vanille stated loudly to herself.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

"I wanted Lightning to come with me.." murmured the blonde haired girl Stella, silently.

She was wearing her usual white sleeveless dress that run down until her knee, revealing the pale white skin of her arms and legs. The dress was v-cut shaped which also let her skin from neck until collarbone be shown. Her feet was covered by a pair of white cream sandals with medium height of a hill.

She smiled as she glanced at the mirror reflecting her own figure. "I guess, there's always next time," she said, still smiling.

Stella was preparing for a night ball party that her parents had arranged. All organization leaders, kings, queens, princes and princesses from other countries were to attend. The main purpose was..? She didn't know. At least, not yet. But she didn't mind not knowing. All she thought was for Lightning to be with her in the party. It would have been fun; Her imagination. Of course, there was no way it would have had difference to go to the party alone or to be with Lightning. Apparently, no difference at all. Stella giggled quietly as she imagined her best friend trying to make a conversation with her guests. She could only thought a reversed replica of Lightning to do that.

The thoughts in her head was cut off when she remembered that she had to go soon to the party. Although, she really wished Light could be there. The actual reason why she wanted her to go was because she knew Lightning lacked the attitude of socialization and so she wanted to try converting her from a cold-hearted, rough woman into a sweet-loving one. She always thought Light could be one.. And so she called her that afternoon by phone at around four thirty but when she asked her to come, she was completely rejected. Lightning told her she had something important to do and so Stella sighed though she understood. 'Must be a work..' She thought.

Smiling once again in front of the mirror while she took one last glance at herself, she whispered, "Oh well, this should be fine." Leaving her thoughts of Light aside, she moved her feet gorgeously and stepped outside the room heading to the ball party which would be held in their palace's large living room. As she continued passing by the halls wherein dark was emitting shadows everywhere, she started to see light downstairs and the guests coming one by one from the front door.

After she reached the stairs, she looked around and stunned herself. There were huge light bulbs hanging from the chandeliers as if they were glowing fireflies in the dark, almost countless tables with white silky mantel covering them and on top of it were building blocks of glasses with wines and beside them were cakes and other sweet delicacies.

From the looks of it, Stella started to wonder when did her parents prepared those. She wasn't aware at all. After few moments of looking around, she went downstairs silently, hoping that no one would notice and recognize her.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

The screech of the limousine, breaking nonchalantly made the Caelum heir knit his brows. It hurt the hell out of his ear, but his expression remained impassive as usual.

"So, it is here?" Noctis asked hesitantly.

"Yes, Prince Noct. This is the place," replied the driver. He was one of Noctis' best friends, Aldred. The most serious one among the four best friends, including Noctis.

Noctis looked outside the window of the car. He could already see the crowd of people wearing their formal attires, suits for men and evening gowns for women. He, himself was wearing a black suit but without a tie. Black leather shoes paired with it.

He then opened the door of the limousine and stepped outside as he turned to Aldred and lifted his right hand to wave it off. Aldred knew it was a sign for him to go and so he returned the same gesture before he accelerated his car and drove off.

Noctis walked into the front door and into the crowd. Oh how he hated crowds of people... Keeping his impassive expression on his face, he looked around, obviously trying to find a spot where there could only be few people and luckily he did. Relaxing his tensed shoulders, he headed towards the spot, with his steps swift.

As he reached his destination, he sighed of relief inwardly but suddenly, someone bumped into his back. When he turned to look at the person, she was surprisingly a beautiful blonde haired girl.

"Oh, my apologies. I didn't mean to-"

The girl didn't finish her sentence off. She blinked her eyes for a few moments and was stunned once again, this time was because it was the first time she had ever seen such a beautiful man.

"No, my bad," Noctis shortly replied. He still looked at her and something struck in his mind. He felt a connection between them and it was their first time to meet. 'Strange,' he only thought, brushing off the feeling.

The girl, realizing that she had been staring at him, shook her head. She smiled and started a conversation between them, putting off the awkward silence they just had.

"..Well, so you're a prince?"

"Yeah."

"Oh, I'm Stella."

"Noctis."

"Nice to meet you, Noctis-sama."

"Just Noct is fine. Nice to meet you too."

Stella was smiling widely, she felt kind of different. Her heartbeat would skip a bit after hearing every single words that leave Noctis' lips. She felt ..connection. 'What could it be?' she only thought.

Ensuing few exchange of words, Stella waved to him a bit, indicating to follow her. She was fast, she had already went upstairs while Noctis was still stepping up the stairs boringly. When he managed to reach the last step up, Stella was standing there, few meters away from him, in front of a large painting. Stella was staring at it with face slightly chinned up. Noctis could only stare at her figure while he resumed walking slowly.

Then Stella turned to face him, wearing her gentle smile, her long blonde silky hair waved off behind her back. Noctis felt the spark of connection once again. It was a strange feeling. He ran up towards her, closing their distance as he also looked up to see what the painting was. It was painted amusingly, every outlines of the art seemed real, the painting itself seemed to be alive. Stella looked up at it again.

"Noctis-sama, you don't like parties, do you?" Stella playfully asked.

"To be honest, no," he replied bluntly.

She giggled at his statement and when she turned to face him, Noctis raised an eyebrow then turned away and walked ahead of her. Stella stopped giggling and followed him.

"But why?" Stella asked. Putting both her hands behind her back, she mildly smiled.

"No reason, I guess," Noctis' reply sounded like more of a question to himself than a statement. And as usual, he only replied very few words to every questions she asked. She giggled again at the thought. His monotonous reactions were interesting. Yes, she found it weirdly amusing.

"Well? Because of crowds of people, perhaps?"

He could only shrug as he continued to walk with Stella behind her. She took his shrug as a _yes_. She then walked in a fast pace, passing Noctis and turned to face him, now walking backwards.

"It is fun sometimes," she said with her sweet-loving but high-pitched tone of voice.

"..I still don't like it," Noctis coldly replied. He walked in a fast pace and this time, went ahead of Stella again but as he saw a bench, he sat there and continued, "It's troublesome, I think."

"I see," she said with a hint of agreeing and disagreeing in her voice.

"Anyway, what is that painting?" Noctis changed the topic.

"Oh, that is..." she started but stopped as she looked up at it again.

Noctis looked at her with confusion. But Stella soon finished what she was going to say, or so he actually thought.

"Actually, I'm not sure too."

Noctis nodded lightly, which meant he understood. Then he stood up and was clearly shown that he wanted to say something but shrugged it off. He had to go already, _no, he wanted to go already, after all, he had nothing better to do there after the conversation with her. _He waved his left hand in the air and said, "I have to go now, ah.." he paused, he forgot her name and for this, he cursed himself under his breath. But Stella helped him by saying it again, "Stella. It's Stella. If you like stars, you'll never forget my name again." She chuckled and then smiled at him. "Well then, you're lucky. Stella, that is, yeah."

_Noctis-sama really like stars?_ Stella thought to herself then brushed it off.

"Well...I guess, I'll be going now too. Actually, my parents ordered me to greet the guests once the party started," Stella said as she stepped away from Noctis, back facing him but after few steps she made, she turned to him again.

He only stood and looked at her.

"Maybe next time, you'll learn to like parties, Noctis-sama," she stated, more likely, teased.

"..Noct." He ignored her teasing.

"And I shall call you by that nickname next time we meet." She nodded wearing a genuine smile on her face.

"Also, if you won't like parties then maybe I'll just start hating parties too," she added.

She then chuckled a bit when she saw Noctis put his left hand on his waist and waved it off again, rolling his eyes.

"You might end up being a party crasher instead," he said. Stella swore that she saw him smile just a bit, and she grinned inwardly. "Bully-type, aren't we, Noctis-sama." It turned out to be a statement instead of a question.

Then she, without looking back at Noctis, rushed to the other side of the dark room.

"So, she's the princess of Tenebrae," Noctis mumbled silently to himself as he looked up at the intriguing paint.

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**Thank u to the new reader, Meilyn Tricia. :] Also, thank u so much to those who added this story in story alerts and to those who favorited it. It makes me really happy. x] And as usual, anonymous reviewers are always welcome!^^**


	4. Chapter 3: The Most Difficult Task

**A/N: Hello again everyone! :] Here is where Lightning's most difficult task will begin. I rather feel sorry for her.. T.T But it's necessary in the story. Also, my apologies if they are OOC. Btw, I edited this chapter too so it wasn't that good. But I hope it's ok! I did my best. Please enjoy reading! ^^**

**Disclaimer:** **I do NOT own the FF game or any of the characters. Though this idea is mine. :]**

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Chapter 3:

The most difficult task for her

It was eleven o'clock in the midnight. The whole surrounding was dead-silent and dark, which approved with Lightning's intentions. It was cloudy, hiding the moon from glowing upon the surface. She decided not to let Vanille come with her because this time's mission didn't require two people. She, alone, could manage it and she was so sure of that.

About six o'clock, which was about five hours ago, she started to think of a plan on how to sneak out to the place where her mission would take action. She was told to gather all the information she could discover about a certain crystal hidden upon the Caelum palace and the last heir to it, the one guarding the crystal. Honestly, she didn't want to get involved with the Caelum heir for some reason she didn't even know herself..

She was carefully standing on a branch of an Oak tree. A huge oak tree and from there, she could see the guards down in the ground, widely awake but not moving one motion even a bit. Soon, her icy blue eyes trailed the room near the oak tree. There was a square-sized window which was big enough for two person to be able to enter into it at the same time without difficulties.

She then saw a little space beside it. Straightened cement where she could possibly land her feet in if she leap from the tree towards it, which she did. Landing on her feet without creating any sound like a cat on its paws, she slowly took a glance at the room through the fuzzy window. It was quite blurry but enough for her to tell that there was no one inside. It was dark, no lights at all. _Perfect, _she thought. Then without hesitation, she slid her hand in the windowsill. With a finger-less glove she wore, her delicate fingers soon found the opening which seemed to be a small lock and by flicking it upwards, creating a vibrating sensation through her hand, she opened the window, jumped in the room silently and looked around.

'_What the..?_' She thought.

The room was surprisingly huge and wide compared to what she saw through the window when she wasn't inside yet. It was too spacious that she had to daze off for a moment. If only Serah could live in such a good place too, Lightning would never wish anything more than it. She snapped back, then shook her head off. She had a mission, enough for her dazing off. '_Now to find the identity of that prince and the crystal.._' sheinwardly thought as she walked over to the nearest closet to her. Surprisingly enough, there was not even one warn alarm, which was weird.

As she stretched out her hand, she quietly pulled the handle of it, revealing mostly papers. Documents, perhaps? She then browsed through it. Flipping up the papers one by one. Surely there could be a hint about the crystal and where could it possibly be hidden... She continued the process but then she suddenly stopped from moving. Beads of sweat started to form in her forehead. _Why? How? _Her mind was now analyzing what she saw. It was a photograph of the men who beat her up after trying to take Serah away from her, there were eleven of them. How could she forget those bastards' faces? No way she could, and here she was, clenching her fists tightly as she threatened to rip the picture off. But, the question was.. Why was a picture of them in one of the rooms in Caelum Palace?

"Who's there?" A deep, very manly voice that came from behind her interrupted her train of thoughts. Then soon enough she realized she was damned.

She froze, eyes widening. _Shit_. She wouldn't let her identity be discovered otherwise it would be like assuring herself that she completely failed for that mission, _though_ _she already did __actually but still,_ _hell no_.Lightning slipped the photo in the small pocket of her pouch as she quickly jumped back towards the window in an attempt to escape. But she was stopped by a hand that grabbed her arm. _What the.. He's too fast! _She thought but then she lifted her fist and punched him directly in his stomach. He nearly fell backwards but no, instead, Lightning felt the world spinning around her and when she realized it, she was pinned in the ground.

_This is bad... No.. The worst_. Lightning felt a rage started to stir inside her. Now she was in the worst position she had always hated. She, underneath a guy. It made her feel vulnerable, too weak and not being able to do something, she hated the feeling with a passion. And she was suffocated by the silence, it was only the sound of their breathing that seemed to reach each others' ears.

But it seemed that he didn't mean to do it for he had his eyes glued on her, widening as if he was just shocked by an electric. She glared at him but was taken aback by his beautiful glowing hazel eyes. The only color illuminating in the waving harmony of darkness in the room.

**Noctis' POV**

I don't know why or how it happened. I wanted to rest after the paper works I've done after I arrived back here from that night ball party. Few hours had passed and I needed a nap but when I entered my room, I immediately sensed someone. Then I grabbed the arm so that the person wouldn't escape for she tried to. But she punched me in my stomach, damn enough for today.. I was already tired! And by that, I suddenly felt my head blurred for a moment.

Then next thing I saw was she was already under me. I had to admit it was a first time for me to get this close to a woman. Yes, I figured out that she was a 'she' because of the sweet scent that was coming from her and the long wavy hair that was now unwillingly spilled in the floor. I stared at her, though I could not see the face for it was too dark. Her icy blue eyes were the only ones I remarked as... Something? She was..

**Normal POV**

Noctis' thoughts were cut off when Lightning started to struggle.

"Get off of me," a hint of irritated tone was on her voice.

He finally went back to reality and as soon as Lightning broke free from underneath him, he quickly waved his hand off towards the switch of light to turn it on without having to stand up and go to it. And then it turned on, but Lightning was already gone.

**Lightning's POV**

Who the.. Is he the prince? Then, that was the Caelum heir's room?

When I realized that we were staring at each other for too long, I quickly stood and threw myself outside the window and then I was running. Shit, I hope he didn't see my face. I already knew that the mission failed but I wouldn't admit it, I didn't want to. Although, it was only the second time of failing in missions, I hated the fact that I failed to do such an easy and simple task.

Damn it.. But there would be another chance right? The Phoenix did tell me that I didn't have to strike only once. Still, they were expecting me to.. What should I tell them? I don't know, honestly.. Add that photograph I saw.. I was too confused. And his hazel eyes...

**Normal POV**

Lightning shook her head. Damn. Why the heck did she fail. Really.. She should have just killed the man but judging by his strength, she knew it would be pretty hard to fight him. Also if he was the prince, she'd be in big trouble. The Crystal and his identity was the only thing she needed.. The Phoenix wanted, to be specific.

She heaved a sigh. Next time, she will definitely accomplish it.

The red-brown haired girl on pigtails quickly ran towards Lightning as soon as she saw her slender, long figure appeared through out the thin fog that occupied the surrounding.

Lightning looked straightly at Vanille who was approaching her. _Oh no, not now._

"Light, your explanation?" Vanille stopped in front of Lightning as she put her hands on her own waist impatiently.

"Sorry, but let's not talk about that now," replied Lightning tiredly.

Vanille frowned. It seemed that the mission didn't go well. She sighed a little then decided to let Lightning off for now. She knew that she was exhausted, not to mention depressed. All signs of it were clearly seen in her face. But that didn't mean that she would completely let go off the matter. Lightning would get a good lecture from her after she rest. A smile appeared in her face by the thought. But she frowned again.

"Light, rest for now then," Vanille said.

"Phoenix. I still have to report to them," replied Lightning with her usual impassive tone in voice.

"But.. Ah, alright, I'll see you in the tent."

Vanille managed to smile again and then she headed towards their tent leaving the confused Lightning in the middle of the way. She was thinking about the happenings in the past over and over. Then she slid her hands inside the small pocket of her pouch searching for the picture. As soon as she grasped it, she immediately took a glance on it.

'_Why are you in that Caelum palace?'_ Lightning thought to herself while looking at it.

A few moments had passed, she quickly head to the basement room of Phoenix where their leader was staying at. She hid the picture in her pocket again when she decided not to let them know about it.. For now, that is. She wanted to think first and not jump to conclusions. Now she got two things she needed to do. One is the second and last attempt to find the identity of the Crystal and the Caelum heir then the other is for her personal satisfaction.. To ask that man about the picture. That man she met in the Caelum Palace. He ought to know something.

As Lightning arrived in front of the basement room, she knocked twice. Then a voice rang through a speaker.

"May we know who you might be?" The voice coming from the speaker asked.

"Lightning," she replied straightly.

"Very well." The huge door opened.

Lightning stepped inside while two soldiers stood still beside each edge of the door. She ignored them and headed straight in front of their leader's desk. There she saw 'him' sitting on the huge chair but instead of facing her, he was facing the window behind his desk.

"Lightning," the man spoke.

"Sir," replied Lightning.

"What's your report?"

"...I ..couldn't find the identity of both objectives, Sir," Lightning replied with hesitant tone.

"I see. That was to be expected," the man coolly replied as if it was a light matter. .._What?_

"Sir?" Now Lightning was even more confused.

"There is a second chance, Lightning. You don't have to panic. But, I also have come to better ideas."

"Better ideas.. Which are?"

"My soldier and assassin, Lightning. There is only you who can and must do it," said the man.

"What is it?" Lightning was having second thoughts to what his leader's ideas now. _I have a bad feeling about this. _

"I'll send you to the Caelum Palace. Pretend to be a loyal soldier to them, and." He paused.

"Do all what you must do in order to make the stoic Caelum heir fall in love with you."

* * *

**Woaw.. What would Lightning do? **

**Anyway, I know there are questions needed to be answered, but all of them will be revealed as the story goes. Also please let me know if u found spelling or grammatical errors, I'd appreciate it a lot. Any ideas from any of u will be welcomed too, so don't be afraid to tell me! ^^ Thank u so much for reading! I'd appreciate reviews so much, so please review if u got spare time :] And as always, anonymous reviewers are always welcome! Thank u for those who added this to story alert and to their favorites too! x]**


	5. Chapter 4: Unidentified Soldier

A/N: Hello again everyone! I'm so sorry for not updating soon.. But here is an update, and I edited it so I'm sorry if it isn't that good. Nicha is still having hard time in her exams, so let's wish her best luck! x] I hope u all enjoy reading! :]

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own the game. All credits and rights belong to Square Enix.

* * *

_"What is it?" Lightning was having second thoughts to what his leader's ideas now. 'I have a bad feeling about this.' _

_"I'll send you to the Caelum Palace. Pretend to be a loyal soldier to them, and." He paused._

_"Do all what you must do in order to make the stoic Caelum heir fall in love with you."_

CHAPTER 4:

The unidentified soldier

-Normal POV-

As soon as the leader of the phoenix's words reached her ears, she raised an eyebrow trying to examine in her mind if she heard it right. But, unfortunately, she did hear it right. Good thing his leader wasn't facing her or else, he would have seen her glaring at him now.

"Can you explain to me, Sir, why I have to do these things? You do know that I'm incapable of that, I neither carry emotions in battlefield nor in normal places. And now I have to make that Caelum heir fall in love.. with me?" Lightning snapped. _Is he kidding me?_

"Yes. Certainly. That is why only you can do it. You are capable. Most of the ladies would have gladly accepted my offer just now in order to be able to meet their stoic prince, but you wouldn't and I have known that. Now do as I say," the man commanded.

"..I .." Lightning shook her head. "What if I don't want to do it?" She asked in a harsh tone.

"You don't have any other choice Lightning. You know you don't."

With this, Lightning gritted her teeth but forced herself to relax. She didn't want to stay there any longer. And so she turned away to walk out from the basement room but before she managed to step one forward out of the room, the man's husky voice echoed in the room once again.

"I am entrusting you this mission because I'm sure you will succeed. Could I be wrong, Lightning?"

She stopped for a while, without turning her head to their leader. But then she left the room without uttering any single words of response.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

Three days had passed already since that incident. Noctis was at his office as usual, quiet and working on the piles of papers that was always brought to him. How he wished he had a magic that could actually be useful, instead of a monstrous ability to kill innocent people.

'I need to find out who that woman is,' Noctis suddenly thought.

_Was she an assassin? What was her purpose for sneaking into my room? Don't tell me.. Oh damn. The Crystal.. She is definitely after the crystal._ _What if-?_

His train of thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the office door.

"Come in," Noctis permitted.

"Young master, Noctis Lucis Caelum." One of the Caelum palace's soldier stepped in and bowed his head to the heir in front of him.

"I have come here to deliver an important message from your father," the soldier toughly said as he lifted his head up.

"And that important message?" Noctis asked, curiosity showing.

"Here, Young master." The soldier walked closer towards Noctis' office desk and reached out both his hands to him, revealing a folded document.

Noctis only looked at the paper and after a few while, he took it in his hands. The soldier knew his place and so he bowed again before leaving Noctis alone in the room. Noctis, while sitting on his chair, started to unfold the paper carefully and opened it. Indeed, it was his father's hand writing. It was firm and clean as if written by a woman but roughness clearly showed in each stroke of words. He was already used not being able to see his parents that much but he still sometimes longed for their attention.

As Noctis read the content of the document, analyzing what it was saying, he suddenly widened his eyes at the last sentence. _What the hell?_

~ X ~ X ~ X ~_  
_

"Light..Lightning," Vanille's voice thundered through the small-spaced tent. It was loud enough for anyone to turn their attentions to her-if anyone were there-, but Lightning was different. She had been spacing out ever since she came back from the basement room, and it has been already three days since then. _What happened I wonder.._ Vanille thought to herself, frowning at her friend's behavior.

It was not unusual for Lightning to be dazing off but this time, she was so sure that something not so good happened. Lightning and Vanille were still inside the tent since it was too early in the morning and it was too cold that Vanille didn't let her go outside, instead, she tried to talk with her inside.

"..Light? Can you at least tell me what is wrong with you?" Vanille was determined to know her problem.

"..No, Vanille. It's nothing." Lightning kept her face impassive, not even bothering to look at her perky companion.

"It's not nothing! Please tell me Light," pleaded Vanille.

Lightning let out a sigh, slowly turning her head towards Vanille's direction. Her head felt heavy, she was stressed. Never did she become this stressed with a mission. This was worse than when she failed for the first time in her previous task! What did she do to be in a situation she'd never want herself involved.. Was it punishment? If so, for what?

"For what?" Without thinking, Lightning blurted out what she had been thinking just a while ago.

"Huh? For what..is what?" Vanille tilted her head to the side, clearly evidence of being confused.

"It's stupid. What am I to do? I can't think of any solutions, I can't think of tactics to use on this mission," the tone of Lightning's voice was rougher than usual.

"What is it Light? That's unusual for you! Tell me what did that man tell you," Vanille asked curiously but as soon as her last word left her mouth, Lightning stood up quickly from sitting and rushed outside the tent.

"Ah, Light! You're escaping from me again," Vanille pouted as she only looked at Lightning's walking away form. She knew better than to run after her.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

The glinting sun already rose highly above everyone's head. Lightning was still walking endlessly not sure where her feet was taking her to..Wait, or maybe, she knew where.

It was a sunny day and Stella liked those days. She felt alive, looking up at the blue sky with the traces of white cloud scattered, slowly moving with every gust of the wind. She was wearing a casual cloth, black tube top with a white short sleeve jacket-like as second cloth, black short skirt with curves like curtain and a belt to fasten it firmly on her waist. Black leather boots with laces matched it. It was more comfortable than her formal white dress that her parents always demand her to wear. Actually, to her parents, it doesn't matter if her closet got filled with the same pattern of the outfit as long as it was that white dress.

Stella shook her head slightly at the crazy thought. If not for the beauty of the white clouds that she loved, she'd have hated the color white. Alright, that means she'd have hated her skin color too. She had an unbelievably pale white skin that looked like that of a ghost. She didn't even know if people would be able to compare her normal skin color to a dead body's. Both seemed to have no difference.

She was resting from her work, and she was on the balcony of their huge castle. Like, about on the fifth floor. How it was nice to have at least days when she could relax like that. She was thinking whether she should go to her best friend's place again, but she was hesitating. Recently, the guards wouldn't seem to let her out of the castle. There must be something up again but she really wanted to see Lightning and tell her about the gorgeous prince she met in the night ball party that her parents had organized.

"What's wrong with this castle.." Stella thought aloud.

That's it, she decided to sneak out if that would be the only way she could go outside to meet Lightning. Stella was about to turn around to her room when she saw the very person who she was thinking just a while ago, walking back and forth blankly down their wide garden. '_How did she enter?_' she blinked few times.

Oh she didn't care anymore, Stella smiled widely and rushed down stairs. Luckily, she was wearing boots and not those white creamy sandals otherwise she'd have tripped for she was now skipping some steps on the stairs making it look like she was floating every time she jumped over them.

As Stella reached the first floor, she ran excitedly directly towards their garden but there she saw her best friend in an unusual behavior. The instant she saw her, she knew something was bothering her.

"Light," Stella called to her unsure if her words would actually reach Lightning's ears.

But she was right, Lightning didn't hear her.

"Lightning?" she repeated.

This allowed Lightning to snap back to the reality. She realized she was in Stella's garden already.

"Stella.." Lightning turned her head towards Stella's direction.

"Light, you're not alright." Stella put her hands behind her, looking at Lightning with worried expression on her face.

"You sure don't ask first." Lightning was pretty amused by Stella whenever she felt not good. Instead of asking her if she was doing okay, Stella would decide for her mood. Which was always right. Lightning didn't feel good, she felt stressed.

Stella giggled when she heard Lightning's statement.

"Oh yes Light, how did you enter?" Stella asked her.

"Do you even have to question me about that? You know, your parents should put braver guards or at least train them not to be too coward," Lightning said a bit sarcastically.

"Oh, you're just too scary for them since they knew you were too strong to be their opponent." Stella muffled a laugh. Sure she should have known it was like that.

"Come in Lightning, let's go to the balcony of my room. I was there few while ago before I saw you walking down here," continued Stella, inviting her best friend to have a nice chit chat.

".. Alright, I also have something to tell you. More likely, ask." Lightning nodded to her.

"Okay Light, let's go."

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

**Noctis' POV**

What was my father thinking?

When I read his important message to me, I thought I missed something, or perhaps I had seen it wrong, and so I read it few more times but that was it. Clearly written.

My father received an offer from a huge company. They told him that they had the strongest capable soldier to take good care of the Crystal that I had always protected ever since my father entrusted it to me. Now what? And who was that soldier? Damn it, and what was worse, my father accepted their offer!

I wouldn't let only him to decide for that, the Crystal was in my care for years, and I had killed too many innocent people just to protect it and in a flash of moment, it was going to be taken care by some unknown soldier? No way.

-Normal POV-

Noctis was so angry. Even with his face that had remained impassive, deep inside, the blood was stirring. How could his father decide foolishly? He had no idea. But no way was he going to let it simply like that.

Therefore, Noctis was going to meet him. Whether he was busy, no time for him, or whether he liked it or not, that old man would meet with his son this time. Noctis believed that settling things right away was the best solution.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

"So, I have a big role this time huh," said a raven-haired female as she held her maroon red spear while pinning it to the ground. Smirking unnaturally, her green eyes already held its captive.

* * *

Thank u for reading! Please review if u got spare times :] I'd really appreciate to know anyone's opinions. Also please let me know if u see grammatical errors or spellings. Anonymous reviewers are always welcome!

Have a good day and good night

~Terru


	6. Chapter 5: Reality

**A/N:** Hello there again everyone! I'm sorry if this chapter lacks some action, romance or angst but I had to put this up. A bit confusing I know but everything will be patched up soon. I also hope u all enjoy reading. :] Not beta-ed, I reread many times and edited it myself so I'm sorry too if it isn't that good. I do my best though!^^

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own the game. All credits and rights belong to Square Enix.

* * *

_Noctis was so angry. Even with his face that had remained impassive, deep inside, the blood was stirring. How could his father decide foolishly? He had no idea. But no way was he going to let it simply like that._

_Therefore, Noctis was going to meet him. Whether he was busy, no time for him, or whether he liked it or not, that old man would meet with his son this time. Noctis believed that settling things right away was the best solution._

_..._

_..._

_"So, I have a big role this time huh," said a raven-haired female as she held her maroon red spear while pinning it to the ground. Smirking unnaturally, her green eyes already held its captive. _

Chapter 5:

Reality

Being sucked up in the reality sometimes felt really harsh for Lightning. It gave her different confusing thoughts involving fates, destinies, co-incidences and lots more.

Yesterday when she talked to Stella, she kind of felt better though. Maybe her decision of talking with her was right after all..

_When Lightning and Stella reached the fifth floor of the castle and headed towards the balcony where Stella was previously relaxing at, she offered Lightning to sit on an extra chair she got from her room. But instead of accepting it, she shook her head and leaned on the parapet of the balcony. _

"_Alright Light, if you want to stand, I guess I'll stand too." Stella giggled._

_Lightning only nodded as she looked at her, the confusion and uneasiness on her face was there. It was really the first time Stella saw her best friend like that and it made her worry to no end. Usually, she wasn't the type to step in to other people's business, mainly because manners would take over her. But this time, Lightning was involved and so Stella couldn't help but ask her first what was wrong._

"_Light, you came here because you wanted to ask something, or tell me something right? What was it?" _

"_Stella, what would you do to make a guy fall in love with you?" Lightning, without second thought, asked instead of answering Stella's question._

"_Eh?" Stella blinked her eyes. Maybe she heard it wrong. Lightning getting interested in such matter? _

"_What's with the reaction?" Lightning raised an eyebrow as she folded her arms across her chest._

"_You.. Light, really... So the time has come now eh!" Stella smiled widely at Lightning as she clasped her hands together. She was as usual, hyper and always smiling. Lightning shook her head in helplessness. Alright, Stella was completely misunderstanding her but how the hell could she tell her that it was a mission? That was just impossible. This time's task wasn't as easy as her previous ones. It wasn't normal, it was actually stupid in her opinion._

"_No.. I mean, ye-.. No, ugh Stella just answer my question."_

"_Oh, Light, I've been waiting for this time to come, tell me who's the guy?" _

"_No."_

"_Ah Light, you could at least let me know, we're best friends!"_

_With Stella's statement, Lightning tilted her head to the side. It was true, they were best friends but she couldn't just answer her silly question. But then, it wasn't Stella's fault for asking so persistently, Lightning couldn't just really tell anyone about it. At least, not for now._

"_Stella, I'm risking my normal life for this, so I'm asking you what to do? If you can't answer me, I'll just go." Lightning let her arms flop on her side as she leaned away from the parapet and was about to walk away when Stella grabbed her arm._

_'Risking life just for the love of her life, oh my, Light must be so in love with that guy!' she thought._

"_Alright Light, I have no experience on romance before but I think I still can help you. I'm sure I have more knowledge about it more than you do after all," Stella gently smiled at Lightning. It could have been a genuine smile but to Light, it turned out to be a teasing smile. Yeah she already knew that she didn't know anything about such stuffs. But it didn't interest her, what could she do? _

_Lightning only shrugged as Stella started to enumerate the things that could help her make a guy fall in love with her._

'Who knew it was that easy,' Lightning thought to herself. There wasn't need to be stressed about it, how stupid could she be. If she had told Vanille about it, maybe she would have given the same advices. Really..

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

Sitting on his office chair staring at the pile of papers on top of his desk, Noctis clenched his fists tightly. He wasn't pleased. He planned to meet that old man of his _yesterday. _And yet, his two friends had to get on his way. Aldred was the only one whom he could rely on, aside from being a good driver to them, he was the most mature one too.

Why was it that at such important times that Jester and Dominic always had to do pranks with each other, and not to mention, they had to involve _him. _As Noctis placed his right hand on his forehead, he shook his head few times. Now he had a headache. Damn it. But that wasn't going to stop him from going to his father's place to meet with him.

This time, and when he meant this time, he'd definitely not let anyone get in his way. That was it. And so Noctis used the office phone to call Aldred. Pressing the speaker of the phone in his ears, he talked to the person on the other side of the line. Clearly adding to not let Jester and Dominic come with them.

"Alright, prince Noct." Aldred's voice from the speaker echoed on.

Once Noctis placed the document in his black pouch hanging on his belt-the one that had his father's statement of having a new crystal care taker-, he stood up quickly and after few steps, walked out of his office. Slamming the door shut, he was about to head directly towards the gate of the palace when a soldier called and bowed to him in the usual honorific manner. Noctis groaned. _Now what?_

"Young master Noctis Lucis Caelum, a female soldier was looking for you. It seemed like she was the one assigne-" the soldier's statement was cut off by Noctis raising his right hand in front of him, gesturing to not speak anymore.

"I understand. Tell her to come to my office right away," Noctis commanded.

"Yes, young master." The soldier straightened his posture and turned away to get the said soldier.

"She must be the one," Noctis thought aloud. He had to postpone his plans, _once again. _Oh wait, few minutes would be enough to take care of that soldier then after that, all would be settled. But he'd still go to his old man. For now, he had to let that female soldier know that she wouldn't be needed.

Noctis went back inside his office and walked to his desk as he sat on his brown-colored chair. Grabbing the office phone nonchalantly, Noctis redialed Aldred's number and explained to him that he'd be late for a few minutes.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

When the soldier came back, Lightning raised her eyebrow a little. He better let me in.. That heir.

"Young master had asked for your presence in his office, miss.." the soldier stammered.

"Lightning," Lightning simply answered his unasked question.

The soldier nodded. "This way, miss Lightning."

He led her to the Caelum heir's office. After a while of walking, they reached the room and the soldier stayed near the door, standing like a statue as if guarding the heir in any case Lightning would be a dangerous threat to them. She shrugged and knocked twice on the door hesitantly.

"Come in," the voice from inside the room said.

Lightning felt her mind wander off somewhere. The voice was kind of familiar to her.. Perhaps, the young man she encountered at _that_ room back that time was really the prince himself. Oh damn. Would he recognize her? She hoped, honestly hoped _not.._

As Lightning grasped the metal door knob, twisted it in a slow manner and opened the door to step inside the room, she saw the Caelum heir sitting on his office chair, left hand on top of right hand in front of his chin while the desk supported his elbow. Hazel eyes met icy blue eyes. Their gaze were locked with each other in a split second but soon broke when Noctis spoke.

"You.." Noctis started off then paused as he stared at Lightning.

Lightning stood still, keeping an impassive expression on her face. She didn't know what her reaction should be and so she remained silent the whole time Noctis was examining her with his own eyes. And then their gazes were once again locked with each other.

**Noctis' POV**

When I saw her figure entering my office, I widened my eyes invisibly. Yes, I could never show such reactions to anyone, especially to someone I didn't even know. I wouldn't want to. But..

Why did I get a feeling that she was a bit familiar to me? I was quite sure I have never met a tall, expressionless woman like her..yet. And yet... I couldn't take my eyes off of her. A spark was created between us, just like a string of connection. It was different to that one I felt when I met a princess in that ball party I've attended to days ago. As far as I remember, her name was.. Stella. Yes, Stella.

**Lightning's POV**

How long would he stare at me like that? I was starting to feel uncomfortable under his gaze but I wouldn't let this chance slip away. I got to work in here and gain his trust. So I stood still and stare back at him. If a normal person were to walk past us, we'd be misunderstood as some two weird people who, instead of talking, were only staring at each other. Yeah, weird..

And maybe, just maybe, about three minutes had passed that I couldn't take it anymore. He was wasting my time! Yeah, my time. Every second was important to me. Honestly.

I raised an eyebrow and coughed a little bit destroying our 'first little weird, not to mention, silent encounter'. Wait. That was quite wrong.. This was our _second_ encounter if he really was that guy.

-Normal POV-

Noctis snapped back when he heard the female soldier standing before him coughed. It was meant to be an 'excuse me?' reaction rather than a serious cough. He knew that and so he nodded a bit and spoke.

"What could be your name, female soldier?"

"Lightning, Sir."

"Lightning?" _what an unusual name.. No, code name for sure._

"I mean, name. Not code name."

"Do you have to know?"

Noctis raised an eyebrow with this but as soon as Lightning remembered the things that Stella told her, she groaned mentally.

"I mean, why do you have to know Sir?" Lightning asked in a more gentle manner.

"Well, actually, no, I don't have to know. And I'll be honest, but I think my father made a wrong decision. I won't accept any other person to take care of the Crystal in this palace," replied Noctis and continued, "so you may not come back here again."

_What the fuck? _Lightning was now knitting her eyebrows together, her impassive face had the sign of 'pissed off' clearly shown. _Stella, I'm sorry, but this wasn't as easy as I thought after all._

_

* * *

_Please let me know when u spot errors! :D I'd appreciate it. Also please review if u got spare times :] I'd be really happy to read feedback from anyone whether a flame/constructive criticism, really anything that could help me improve in writing. Anonymous reviewers are always welcome too! I'm writing a one-shot Final Fantasy XIII Crossover LightningxNoctis fic too and I'll post it up here once it's done. Thank u to everyone who read this, added to story alert, favorites and to those who reviewed! ^o^

Have a good day and good night!

~Terru

(p.s. next chapter might have an action/romance going on at the same time)


	7. Chapter 6: Ravenhaired Soldier

**A/N:** Hellooo! :D How is everyone? Anyway, this is the update! Thank u to everyone who reads, favorites, and reviews this fic :] It makes me really happy! I hope u all enjoy reading^^ Anyone is welcome to leave a review, ideas or advices! (Not beta-ed)

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own the game. All credits and rights belong to Square Enix.

_

* * *

"Well, actually, no, I don't have to know. And I'll be honest, but I think my father made a wrong decision. I won't accept any other person to take care of the Crystal in this palace," replied Noctis and continued, "so you may not come back here again."_

What the fuck?_ Lightning was now knitting her eyebrows together, her impassive face had the sign of 'pissed off' clearly shown. _Stella, I'm sorry, but this wasn't as easy as I thought after all.

Chapter 6:

The raven-haired soldier

Lightning stood there like a statue, digesting the words that left the stoic prince's lips. There was something wrong in what he said.. Replaying the words in her head, she stepped one forward towards Noctis' desk. Noctis seemed to be taken aback by her reaction as he just raised his eyebrow and looked at her straightly and questioningly.

Then she found it. The wrong fragment in his very statement. _Take care of the Crystal.. _That wasn't what she was told. Her task was to pretend to be a loyal soldier to them and gain the Caelum Heir's to take care of the Crystal.

"Pardon me Sir, but I'm afraid there is a misunderstanding," Lightning remained calm as she spoke first to break the silence.

"Misunderstanding? And what could that be?" replied Noctis who was now confused.

"I was sent here to become one of your new soldiers. A soldier who will risk this life for you and for anything that was important to you. A soldier who will fight for the right justice and for a peace, not to be someone to take care of the _Crystal_," Lightning emphasized the last word that left her mouth.

Noctis stared at her. Holding his hazel eyes that locked with her icy blue ones, he searched for the answers in her eye. The truth. _Seriously, what? _He couldn't think of anything more. He was rather perturbed by the fact that his father might be playing with him. If so, he didn't like it. He sighed inwardly and finally got the urge to response to this 'little conversation'.

"I'm very sorry but I haven't received a word from my father that there will be a new soldier entering here, and if you really are, you would be dressed as one of them, which also doesn't satisfy me knowing that you could be pretending for the sake of something else."

'Shit. He's sharp,' Lightning thought to herself. She didn't think that she'd need to be dressed like the Caelum soldiers. Her leader didn't tell her anything about it. Damn it. Was he really enjoying playing tricks like this with her?

"My apologies but, I had a word from my leader that I needed not to be dressed as one of your soldiers as this combat-outfit was the most suitable for me when fighting. I have half of my ability lying on it." It was a good thing that Lightning knew how to lie for herself fast like that.

Noctis was about to reply to her when a ring echoed in the office room. He groaned mentally before bringing his hand to the office phone and picked it up, pressing the speaker into his ear. A familiar voice came through from the other line.

Noctis' eyebrow were clashing together like two swords now and Lightning noticed this but remained impassive. She was beyond pissed off, she already felt stupid about this whole mission thing and this stoic prince made it worse. Suddenly, a throbbing pain shot through her head. Oh how it ached like an arrow that pierced through its target. Lightning was being patient-which was nearly impossible for her- since she didn't want to fail the mission. She never backed down when she already stepped forward.

After a few while of Noctis talking to the person on the other side of line, he ended the conversation and put the office phone back to its right place then turned his head to the female soldier.

"Well, female soldier, it seems like my father forgot to tell me earlier about having a new soldier here. Which is you, soldier Lightning," Noctis paused.

Lightning held her chin up as she looked straight at him, arms hanging firmly at her side.

He continued, "I now confirm you, as one of the prides and wisdom of Caelum Dynasty Soldiers, to remain loyal, diligent and smart for this status."

Lightning didn't respond, instead she raised her left fist and brought it just in front of her chest before bowing her head to him. _Finally.._

Noctis nodded in acknowledgment as he spoke once again, "The soldier who brought you here was the one who could guide you at your first time here, now if you may excuse me, I need to go somewhere."

Lightning lifted her head up and nodded. But as Lightning was about to head towards the door, someone opened the door and came in without permission of the Caelum prince. _Alright.. now that's rude._

Noctis cursed under his breathe as he saw a tall, female with raven hair and a maroon red spear in her hands standing there in front of them. She was wearing a short black sleeveless top that was covered by a blue tribal clothing and tribal accessories, hugging all the curves of her body. Her feet wore a tan leather open-toed boots. _Now what again?_

Lightning raised an eyebrow. She didn't like the feeling that the woman in front of her gave out. It was more of a dark and menacing aura.

"Who may you be?" Noctis asked hurriedly.

The raven-haired woman's lips curved upwards. She smirked as she looked directly at him not even giving attention to Lightning's presence. Not that Lightning cared but.. if she was already a soldier there, whatever this woman's intentions, she had to protect the Caelum Heir. It was one of her duties now.

And before she realized it, she had already stood in front of the tall woman, blocking Noctis' view of her. And he was quite surprised by what Lightning just did.

"Woman. My business isn't with you," the raven-haired woman spoke. Her voice had a deep tone on it.

"If your business has something to do with the Caelum prince, I'm afraid it is my business too." Lightning folded her arms across her chest.

"Wait. Calm down, soldier Lightning-" Noctis were cut off by Lightning speaking.

"Please call me Light, and I am calm Sir Noctis Lucis Caelum."

"You can just call me Noctis, don't bother referring me in my full name."

"Hm, so you two are close?" the woman smirked wider at Lightning's reaction. _Something interesting ought to happen._

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

Walking back and forth repeatedly, Vanille's thoughts flew out here and there. The Phoenix leader personally called for her just a while ago only to command her to hold Lightning's unit. A clouded feeling was brought to her chest and her throat was becoming dry every minute that passed. Where would Lightning be? Why didn't she say anything to me and just leave me here? Confusion enveloped Vanille's mind and she didn't know what to think anymore.

Suddenly, a gloved-hand tapped on her shoulder. It brought her senses back and she turned to see who it was.

"Hope..?" the name was like the light to her. Probably because of his name itself.

Hope Estheim was standing beside her with a worried expression spread on his adorable face. She would always smile whenever she saw him smile but this time, she frowned at the sight of him. His expression made her feel uneasy, hurt and stupid. She held responsibility to Lightning's unit now and she knew very well not to fail for it. She knew it and yet.. she couldn't help but feel abandoned.

"Vanille, what's wrong..?"

Vanille just stood there and stared at him. She didn't know what to say, and she didn't know how to react. But she knew that if she told him, he'd be a comfort and she'd feel better. Brushing off that thought, Vanille shook her head. She wanted to feel better but not by dragging someone else down too. She could just pretend to be the normal perky companion once again and everything should be fine.

"What are you talking about? I'm perfectly fine!" Vanille poked Hope's forehead hoping to get a cute reaction from him. And she did, Hope tilted his head to the side and pouted. Vanille giggled and patted his head.

"Don't worry, I just feel nervous because I'm going to hold Lightning's unit! Can you imagine? They are lots of soldiers and my strength isn't even equal with Light!" she exclaimed and twirled like a ballerina allowing her skirt to flop up and danced along with her movements while holding both her hands in front of her chest.

Hope knew that Vanille wasn't feeling good. He knew it by looking at her usually striking green eyes which changed into a darker shade of green, as if losing its life. But, he also knew that she was trying so hard to hide it from him and it was for his sake. So he decided to play along and help her cheer up in his own small way instead. _Vanille's too nice for her kind._

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

Noctis couldn't remember it. He couldn't remember when did Lightning and the raven-haired woman start slashing at each other. He was too taken aback by all of these. Too much things to think, all of them flowed in his mind and it felt like it would explode on him anytime.

The only thing he could remember was that Lightning stood up to protect him. He knew that she felt the same way as him. There was something suspicious going around with that unidentified woman. And then, there the playful smirk crept up her face once again before saying something.. something that made Lightning snapped.

_Hm, so you two are close?_

Ah.. That was it. Noctis remembered now. After hearing those words, Lightning took out her weapon that looked like a sword with a.. gun, and pointed at the other woman. At first, neither took their moves. Only standing there and glaring at each other. But the next thing he realized was that they were already out of the office room, fighting against each other together with the sounds of blade crashing one another.

Noctis didn't understand though. There wasn't anything that Lightning was supposed to snap at. He didn't mind that one sentence, obviously the woman was only trying their patience. But that was when he discovered that Lightning didn't have it. She was grumpy at that one. But he was thinking now. Shouldn't he be going out there and stop the two? Really.. He felt like his mind wasn't on his head anymore.

…

…

Lightning felt irritated. This woman got on her nerves and even while they were slashing at each other, she seemed to only smirk and smirk and play tricks on her. _What the hell, she's like the Phoenix leader!_ Just that she's the violent type.

Leaving her thoughts aside, Lightning swayed her gunblade and attempted to hit her opponent on the stomach but before her weapon land near her, she jumped in the air and landed on her feet just right behind her. Using this opportunity, the raven-haired woman tried to strike directly at her and her spear was about to dig in on her shoulder if she didn't turn around swiftly to lift her legs in an upper kick.

With a _thud_, Lightning's opponent stumbled on the ground just for a moment. It was her time to smirk now but like what she felt earlier, the throbbing pain once again shot through her head, vein was like convulsing in a dangerous manner. She could have ignored it but her vision got blurry each second passed. Before she knew it, everything went black out already, feeling her consciousness slowly slipping away from her, like the sand slipping from between her fingers.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

"_That's alright Noct, I understand," Aldred's voice was husky through the other side of the line. Then their talk ended._

Noctis had called to him and canceled their plan on him meeting his father that day. He didn't know if all was just coincidence, why he couldn't go to him right away. Everything was still surprising to him. After he called to Aldred, he went after the two female soldiers who were sparring. He expected to see the two still slashing at each other but no. Instead, the raven-haired woman stood there pointing her spear at the unconscious Lightning's throat. He supposed she was seriously going to slice her head if he didn't arrive.

And here he was now, leaning on the wall beside the window of the small infirmary he had in the palace. Looking at the sleeping form of Lightning wasn't that bad, she looked nice in her sleep. Her face had the soft and comfortable expression that even bad guys would be fooled that she was a really nice person like an angel but Noctis knew better.

Indeed, it was their first time meeting but he felt that he already met her..somewhere. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he had that feeling. Calmly, he walked towards her bed and stared down at her.

'She really looked like an angel..face so pale..' Noctis didn't know what he was doing. He was near to caressing her cheeks with the back of his gloved-hand. Widening his eyes a bit, he pulled away. Then that familiar scent was tickling his senses again. It was an alluring scent, he almost closed his eyes much to his disagreement.

Forcing his eyes to stay open and alarm, he looked down at her again, her strawberry-colored hair was spilled in the white sheets of the bed. It looked so silky.. Noctis definitely had a problem. His mind wasn't on his head again. That was for sure. Otherwise, he wouldn't be staring at her like that as if she was his long lost lover.

* * *

That's some...development, I guess..? o.o But! We're not sure yet! There's Stella. :] Although I already pretty much have the idea on how this is going to end.

Please tell me if u spot errors! ^_^

Have good day and good night everyone!

~Terru


	8. Chapter 7: Identity

**A/N**: Hello! Gah... It's been two years since the last update, I can't believe it myself. But then I said I won't abandon my on-going fics so here is one update... I don't have much inspiration to write, probably writer's block but I managed to pull this... Sorry everyone. Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy the read even if it's short...

Thank you to favorites and alerts!

**Disclaimer:** I do NOT own the game. All credits and rights belong to Square Enix.

* * *

Recollection:

Lightning, the soldier and the assassin.

Stella, Lightning's best friend and the princess of Tenebrae.

Noctis, the Caelum heir.

Lightning remembered her past of losing her parents at the age of eleven leaving her to take care of her little sister, Serah all by herself. She vowed to protect her always but failed when a group of stronger people attacked them taking Serah away from her. But meeting an organization who offered her help, Lightning in return of their success bringing Serah back to her, became their underling and from then on trained to become a soldier and an assassin. Stella was Lightning's best friend, one night that her parents held night ball party for high statuses, there she met the Caelum heir, Noctis. Stella was attracted to him that she wanted to tell Lightning about it as soon as she could but couldn't do so when they met because Lightning had her own little problem. Stella misunderstood and thought her best friend was in love so she gave some _advices. _Little did she know, it was Lightning's mission.

Back to Lightning, she went ahead to the Caelum Palace and introduced herself as the new soldier. And as if things were not going bad enough, a certain raven-haired female made it worse. She and Lightning fought, but it ended up with Lightning losing her consciousness.

Chapter 7:

True identity

When she woke up, the first thing she saw was a purely white surface peeking down on her. She gritted her teeth as she forced her eyes whole open. She felt nauseated, her eyesight not allowing her to see clearly. She could only identify the white ceiling above her, the mirror reflecting herself from the front when she sat up, the white curtain... White blanket... White bed...? Then she jerked her head towards the presence she felt at her side and there she saw a familiar man standing and leaning against the wall looking at her. Uh, did she just think... familiar...?

"Falling unconscious at the very first day of the work huh?"

Lightning gasped and she couldn't bother protecting her pride at this moment. She immediately turned on her side and swayed her legs down the bed, her feet now touching the cold tiles. She quickly stood up, ignoring the sudden blur of her sight as she bowed her head to the man. How could she? This was her second chance for that mission-as stupid as it was- so she couldn't afford screwing things up this time. Damn it.

"My deep apologies, Sir."

She only hoped he didn't get disappointed that much... Oh please, spare her...

"No, don't bow. It's... fine. You seem to have had hard time at your organization before. The doctor said you fell unconscious due to over-fatigue and stress. You need a rest."

Lightning remained silent. She couldn't face the man in front of her, even more now that he actually sounded concern just for a moment. That was awkward. Was she wrong of her first impression of him? The man seemed to notice her nervousness, as he tapped her shoulder lightly. She lifted her head with this, and their gazes met each other.

"Being a soldier is no way an easy job. You need devotion to fulfill tasks, so take it easy. If you fall ill, the more you won't be able to do your works. Got it, Lightning?"

Him, calling her name like that made it weird for her but she guessed it was better than putting the word '_soldier'_ together with her name-codename-. Lightning nodded and bowed her head once again. She had to swallow her pride this time. This man, was no doubt, the one who brought her here to be cured.

"Thank you, Sir Noctis Luci-"

"Noctis. Or Sir Noctis. Whatever it is, just not my full name."

He said it firmly but there was no hint of annoyance in his voice.

"Yes, Sir Noctis."

Noctis nodded and pointed at the other side of the bed. She turned her head to where he was pointing and she saw her cloth neatly folded on the table. Then she looked down herself, white loose dress... What the -

"Your attire will do, since you said you need it. The guard who guided you to my office will be the one to guide you to your room. Rest for today, your work starts tomorrow."

"...Yes, Sir."

With that, Noctis left. Lightning sighed as she looked at her cloth... She didn't notice that she was wearing a different piece of cloth. She should have known when she saw her bare feet a while ago, but she was too desperate to apologize not wanting to totally screw up her mission. It was only her first day at working and she already gave a bad impression.

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

Lightning was brought to a medium-sized room on the second floor of the palace. The guard enumerated few rules for her to protect and she instantly input them in her memory. The room was not bad. The bed was normal-sized, there was a big square window by the side of it, a desk and a chair. There was even a small cabinet that she supposed she could use for few of her other clothes. When she arrived at the palace, that guard took her luggage with him and she hesitated at first, but knowing her place, she gave it. Good that nothing went missing in her things. She was worried that they might open it to check for any suspicious material. She heaved a sigh of relief.

The day was coming close to end. She walked to the window and opened it, letting the breeze flow through her face. She looked at the grayish clouds up above. Night... _I wonder if Serah is doing just fine right now_...

Lightning took a glance at the paper inside her grasp. The guard also gave her a guide map of the palace. Maybe, this would actually be useful... She gripped it tight, bringing her eyes back to the window to look at the view outside. She still felt dozy, so she decided to take a quick nap after she fixed her things to each of their own new location.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

That night, without any other choice, Noctis just tried calling his father by the phone. He knew that his old man was always busy but this was his first time attempt of calling. His father could maybe at least consider it worth answering...

With that hope, Noctis dialed his father's number. First ring... Second ring -

"Noctis."

"!"

Surprisingly, his father answered right away... Really? He could almost swore that his father was waiting for his call. _Strange_...

"Father. There is something I wish to ask you."

"About the caretaker of the Crystal I mentioned in the letter I suppose?"

"Yes, about that, can you please reconsi-"

"No need to worry about that Noctis."

Noctis raised a brow.

"That was a letter-in-disguise. The one who went there was sent by the same organization where the new soldier came from. That woman was a new recruit and she was proved to be able to at least fight Lightning in equal. The woman was sent there to test Lightning and to show you her ability. Apparently, it was a good report."

"Wait, what? Father, you sent a fake letter to me just for that? Father, you have no idea how worried I got-"

"I know. It's just almost like the quotation 'first you have to fool your ally so you can fool the enemy'."

Noctis just stood there. Unbelievable. What the heck? His father... What? Seriously? He couldn't believe it! So it was just a waste of time worrying about it, on top of that, he felt stupid. Great. The sound _beeep_ from the other line let him know that his father already hung up. Noctis placed the phone back to its body. Damn.

~ X ~ X ~ X ~

Everyday at Caelum palace was hectic in the morning and at night, but nothing she couldn't manage to do. Her organization was much busier. If she counted it right, two weeks had already passed since she started working there. And she was now used to the surroundings and no rules she had broken so far. She learned that palaces did things different. What the soldiers had to do was only to patrol the whole place, drive away unnecessary intruders if there happened to be some and take the role of a messenger at times. In the Phoenix, not only has she had to move all around, but she also lead her unit and went to different places where their presence were required. Mostly when there were parties, meetings... Any event that needed soldiers to be the guards. Not only that, they were sometimes sent to places where war was conflicting and they had to protect the one who requested for them. Lightning's work didn't finish there. She also worked as a direct hired assassin under the Phoenix's leader. She had killed countless of lives...

But that was not what was troubling her. Certainly, her leader sent her to this palace to work as a soldier, but that was merely a disguise. Wasn't her true mission to gain that prince's trust, get close to him in the process and make him fall in love with her so she could take that as advantage all for the sake of the Crystal information? Yet they haven't met each other anymore ever since her second day. Not that she actually wanted to see him, in fact, it was more comfortable for her working with the other soldiers than when she was with him. But still...

_I mean, what was that for? Why did my leader order me something like that then?_

Lightning shook her head. She could never understand that man.

As Lightning continued her patrol outside, one soldier called her out and told her that her presence was required by the prince.

Now what? She was just thinking about it a while ago and it was as if someone had read her mind. What the heck? Was she being played with?

...

...

Without any explanation, Lightning did as told and immediately headed to the prince's office.

...

When she arrived to her destination, she didn't need to knock because a guard opened the door for her as soon as she got there. Lightning only nodded before allowing herself inside...

. . .

. . .

. . .

"Pardon me, Sir...?"

"As I've said, from tomorrow on, you'll be my personal body guard."

What?! Now now, indeed she was troubled about her mission earlier but she didn't ask for this! So absurd. _What's with this sudden progress_? She doubted her ears.

"I'm telling you, you're not the only one who's confused."

"Sir, what could you mean by that?"

"This afternoon, I received a letter from my father telling me that from tomorrow on, you're assigned to be my body guard. Which to be honest, I have no need. But as much as I want to reject his idea, he mentioned in the letter that I have no choice but to follow him."

"..."

"And whenever he says that, I really can't do anything."

What a troublesome king this man's father was, just like her leader. They were all troublesome. But then she really couldn't do anything about it either. She was merely someone who was following orders, she had no right to object.

"I understand, Sir Noctis. From tomorrow on then, please allow me to work at your side." Lightning placed her left hand above her chest as she bowed to show her respect.

"Right. Come to this office at seven o'clock sharp tomorrow morning. You may go now."

Answering a short _'Yes'_, Lightning lifted her head up and turned around to leave. Starting from tomorrow on, she would be entering a whole new different pace of everyday life. How would she be able to take things from there?

. . . . .

* * *

Please tell me if you notice some errors/mistakes. I had to reread the previous chapters to catch up but I might still have missed on some things. Any reviews are welcome, constructive criticisms are appreciated too of course! ^^ Thank you so much.

Have a good day/night everyone!

~Terru


End file.
